Toujours Pur
by Messrs-MWPP199
Summary: What happened to the children of the Noble and Ancient House of Black? A story that depicts the turning point in the young lives of Bellatrix, Narcissa, Regulus and of course Sirius Black. Please Read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Just as a warning: I made the Narcissa and Bellatrix direct siblings of Regulus and Sirius because I thought for my purposes it would make the story more interesting. Hope it doesn't throw anyone too much. **

**Chapter One: ****Fairy Tale Gone Wrong**  
>Narcissa Black heard the door slam above her and her mother screaming insults at her younger brother, "Oh Sirius," she sighed to herself, "When will you learn that it is only Mother's way?" she thought bitterly.<p>

Then suddenly her bedroom door was thrown open and her twin sister Bellatrix entered the room laughing cheerily, "So I just saw little Sirius catching the heat. He didn't polish the silver well enough," she reported.

"Oh Bella, "Narcissa said glaring at her sister, "Why do you have to take such amusement when Mother punishes him? He is our brother…"

"Our brother who got sorted into Gryffindor and refuses to uphold the family motto," Bella said righteously before flopping onto her bed.

"But its Christmas," Narcissa whispered, "Can't you just forgive him this injustice?" she asked only being slightly sarcastic, "I mean it's not like he chose to be put in Gryffindor. The Sorting Hat doesn't really put a whole lot of stock in the choice you would rather if its mind is made up! What could Sirius have done?"

"I would have dropped out rather than be in a house full of people with dirty blood." Bella snapped, "Wouldn't you Cissy?"

"But then where would I have learned magic?" Narcissa asked trying to avoid the question and tipping her head forward so her blonde hair would cover her face. The truth was she didn't much care for the business of houses and the purity of blood. That was Bella's forte. Narcissa just wanted to learn magic and start her own family with someone her mother would approve of, and if that meant she would be marrying a pureblood then she would just have to find one she could live with.

"Why Mother and Father would send you to Durmstrang of course!" Bella said, "But it's not like you're the one who disappointed them. You were a good girl and got sorted into Slytherin. A noble house. And anyway, Sirius's crime isn't that he got sorted into Gryffindor," Bella sneered as she said this, "It's that he wallpapered his room in red and gold and hung Gryffindor posters all over his walls. Mother can't get them off, she says it's the scourge of the house, I agree."

"What did he do?" Narcissa asked shocked and sure she must have heard her sister incorrectly.

"He changed the wallpaper in his room so that it's red and gold, the Gryffindor colors, and he has posters of the Gryffindor lion all over the walls," Bella said sounding disgusted, "So he deserves everything he has coming to him.

Narcissa's large grey eyes widened. She was appalled at her little brother's actions, "Uhm," Narcissa said trying to think quickly, "I'm just going to run to the bathroom and then we can start getting ready for the ball tonight. Okay Bella?"

Bella nodded smiling widely, "Yeah okay! I'll get your dress out of the closet."

Narcissa got out of her bed and flowed gracefully out of the room. Her robe was made of the finest silk and it was white, it was one of the few white things she had ever been allowed to own. Her robe and her very pale blonde hair were billowing around her as she hurried up the stairs to Sirius's room as quietly as possible. She didn't want her mother to see her fraternizing with him or she wouldn't be allowed to accompany the rest of the family to the Malfoy's annual Christmas Ball.

Instead of knocking on the door she just opened it slowly, when she got a glimpse of the room her dainty lips parted in surprise, and her wide eyes blinked as if she had just emerged from a cave into the sunlight.

"Cissy!" Sirius said rather quietly but with enthusiasm, Cissy had always been his favorite sister, "What do you think?"

"Oh my god Sirius!" Narcissa said in astonishment which slowly began to turn into disgust, "What have you done?"

"I redecorated," Sirius said proudly.

Narcissa stayed silent as her emotions roiled inside her. She was violently upset by Sirius's actions; she had never done anything to him but try and protect him from their parents. Regulus and Sirius were her little brothers and she had never wanted anything but their safety and a less turbulent childhood then she had been blessed with. Regulus was easy because he was born with the survival drive that Narcissa had been born with, but Sirius was a different story because he apparently had been born without the natural will to survive at all costs. He continually swam against the riptide current that was their mother.

Sirius was looking at her quizzically, "Struck speechless?"

"YOU IDIOT!" Narcissa exploded, "YOU BLOODY FUCKING IDIOT! I have spent most of my childhood trying to teach you the survival skills for this house, and all you can do is just throw it back into my face just so you can stick it to our mother's. Well you know what Sirius? I think I have done all I want to do to help you anymore. Because clearly it didn't mean anything to you when I missed the Christmas Ball so you wouldn't be home alone with Kreacher when you had dragon pox, or when I polished the rest of the silver when you were eight because you didn't have time to finish."

"That was you?" Sirius asked.

"Nor did it matter to you when I distracted our mother while you re-hung the drapes after you and Regulus accidentally pulled them off they're hangers, or when I put the salve on the cuts on your back from when she whipped you and the bruises from when she hit you. I'm tired of looking out for someone who won't even look out for themselves occasionally. So consider yourself officially on your own. Congratulations Sirius," Narcissa finished, she had worked herself up until she was almost in tears. She stared at Sirius through her watery grey eyes for a moment before she turned on her heel and walked out of the doorway shutting the door quietly behind her.  
>As always Narcissa moved as if she were a ghost in her own home. She dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her robe and planted an eager smile on her face before she opened her bedroom door and entered.<p>

"Cissy! What do you think?" Bella asked twirling in a circle in the center of their room. She had already changed for the ball; she was wearing a black satin dress, which was fastened around her neck. The dress pooled around her feet elegantly so that she would have to lift it in a sophisticated manner in order to walk, her black hair was straight and fanning around her all the way down past her elbows. She looked beautiful and there was a rare light in her eyes.

"Bella you look dazzling! You're beautiful, but what's got you so happy?" Narcissa asked her twin sister curiously. There were only two things that made Bella that happy.

"Rudolphus just sent me this!" Bella said handing a folded letter to her sister before she twirled again.

Narcissa opened and quickly scanned it; Rudolphus would be at the Malfoy's Christmas Ball. He had been worried that he wouldn't be able to make it because he had transferred to Durmstrang for his seventh year and Durmstrang's break started later then Hogwarts's. The letter said that Rudolphus's family had pulled some strings, and he'd done some extra work so that he could be allowed to come home a day early to attend the ball with his family.

"Bella! This is great! You'll finally get to see him again," Narcissa said smiling.

Though Bella and Cissy were only in their third year, as daughters of the Black family they had been betrothed to older men practically from birth. Their Mother hadn't wanted to tell them yet, because she couldn't see how it would make a difference at their age. However, Bella knew she was betrothed to Rudolphus because they had been discovered together at last year's Christmas Ball; Narcissa still didn't know who she would be marrying.

Bella smiled radiantly, "I can't hardly wait till I can see him and touch him again," she exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh, too much information Bella," Narcissa said blushing and turning to her own dress. She was wearing an emerald green dress that barely brushed the floor except for the small train out the back. The back of the dress was pretty much non-existent, the fabric came together at her lower back and the dress tied up around her neck. In her opinion, being that the natural colors God had given her were so bland, she could wear any bright color she wanted and she preferred the emerald green of Slytherin. She slipped into her dress and turned to her sister and asked, "What do you think?"

Bella brushed her sister off and said, "Oh come now Cissy! You've never looked less than stunning a day in your life. Don't act as if you don't know exactly what I'll say. Come on let's go!" Bella said grabbing her sister's hand and her high heels before hurrying down the stairs to meet her parents and Regulus to go to the Ball.

Narcissa took her silver heels from Bella at the bottom of the staircase and slipped them on before she took her father's offered arm and he apparated into the foyer of Malfoy Mansion.

Bellatrix and Narcissa stood in a corner of the room together gossiping about the adults around them and trying to avoid being forced into conversation with any of the matrons, or older pureblood ministry men. Suddenly someone appeared behind Bellatrix and slipped his arms around her waist.

"Hello beautiful," Rudolphus said as Bellatrix turned around in the circle of his arms a radiant smile on her face.

"Rudolphus!" She greeted him, "I can't believe you're really here!" She said before she kissed him fully on the mouth.

Narcissa forced a smile onto her face and said, "It's nice to see you Rudolphus," she returned his polite nod before excusing herself and exiting the ballroom trying to figure out where to go now to avoid unwanted conversations.

"Cissy!" she heard a male voice call enthusiastically and then a decidedly masculine hand found hers.

Narcissa turned around and saw Lucius Malfoy standing behind her holding her hand, "Hello Lucius," Narcissa said smiling at him.

Lucius was two years older than her in school and he was very popular with young witches at Hogwarts because of his fine features and his family. Narcissa had a crush on him since they first met at the first ball she had been allowed to attend. She would never forget the way he had caught her when she stumbled on the stairs that led from the balcony to the ballroom and broke the heel to her shoe. He had carried her into the ballroom and set her on a chair where he had then used magic to fix her shoe and asked her to dance.

"Cissy, where are you going? You haven't danced with me yet," Lucius said smiling his dangerous smile at her and looking directly into her grey eyes. He reached his hand out and tugged on a strand of hair that had fallen over her shoulder, "We always dance together at these Balls."

Narcissa smiled a pretty blush spreading across her cheeks, "You always insist," she said fluttering her eyelashes at him and looking down at the floor before meeting his grey eyes with her own again.

"You're the only girl I want to dance with," Lucius said smiling at her and using the hand he still held to pull her closer to him until their faces were very close.

"Really?" Narcissa asked. She was hoping against hope that he wasn't just pulling a prank, and also that he would kiss her before pulling away. She could feel her blush spreading as she glanced at his lips. She had never been kissed before; she wondered what it would be like to have Lucius Malfoy be her first kiss. Her blush deepened when she wondered fleetingly if he would be able to tell she'd never been kissed.

Lucius's smile slowly grew as he noticed the flick of her eyes towards his lips followed by a deepening of her blush, "Good," he thought relieved, "She's thinking exactly what I'm thinking. I guess she isn't the only girl to be able to resist me, because she can't." After that thought he took his other hand and gently cupped her face with it, he gazed into her pale eyes a moment longer before he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

Narcissa thought she was going to faint. This was better than she had ever imagined. In fact, nothing could be better than this.

O

Narcissa Malfoy jolted awake in her bed, she lay there panting for a moment and then reached to the other side of her bed for her husband Lucius. In that moment, in the dark, it took her a moment to realize that the reason her husband wasn't by her side was because he in the wizarding prison, Azkaban.

She sighed heavily; so many things had gone wrong since that wonderful night of her first kiss with Lucius. First things seemed like they were only going terribly right, it turned out Lucius was the pureblood boy that Narcissa had been betrothed too, they got married after Narcissa had graduated from Hogwarts, and they had their son Draco.

Then the Dark Lord had fallen and Lucius narrowly escaped having to be sent to prison then. Their family home, Malfoy Mansion, had been searched, invasively, and often, for Dark relics to prove that Lucius was not under the Imperius Curse when he helped the Dark Lord. Then, Lucius was caught on a mission in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic trying to capture Harry Potter to bring to the Dark Lord, and now, even worse. Her son Draco had willingly taken his place, and his life and future were now endangered because he was too young to understand that the Dark Lord was a vengeful one.

Narcissa found she often dreamed of her husband, and of the happy days they shared when Draco was young and the Dark Lord was protecting them. She missed him desperately. She missed her son desperately.

"Goodnight Lucius," she whispered into the dark.


	2. His Disciples

**AN: Okay so this is the turning point in Bellatrix's life (the real reason I started this story, secretly). Enjoy!**

**Chapter Two:** His Disciples

Bellatrix Black lay on her back in her four poster bed, in her dorm at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was examining the new dark mark on her forearm with a satisfied smile on her face. She had finally been allowed to receive it thanks to Rudolphus, her boyfriend. When the Dark Lord had determined that Rudolphus was ready for the honor of wearing the Mark on his forearm Rudolphus had petitioned the Dark Lord, quite bravely, to allow Bella to get hers at the same time.

Afterward Bella and Rudolphus had stayed up the rest of the night together in Hogsmeade. Bella had been filled with adrenaline and endorphins due to the pain that had coursed through her during the tattoo process. It had been one of the best nights of her life. There were only two people that Bella Black actually cared about in her life. One of those people would always be the Dark Lord, and the other was Rudolphus Lestrange.

That night, lying on Rudolphus's bed, Rudolphus had pledged eternal love for her and he had promised they would be together forever. Bella wasn't the kind of girl who needed to hear things like that, which is why she knew Rudolphus meant it. If he hadn't meant it, he wouldn't have bothered to say it to her.

Suddenly the burn on Bella's arm darkened and burned slightly, Bella grinned hungrily, tonight she would assemble with the rest of the Death Eaters in Hogsmeade to greet the Dark Lord and receive her orders from him. She stood up and grabbed her long black traveling cloak from the end of her bed, put it on over her school uniform, pocketing her wand as she headed towards the door. Before she got there Narcissa opened it and stared at her with her grey eyes wide and accusing.

"Where are you going?" she asked suspiciously looking at her traveling cloak.

"Don't worry Cissy, I'll be back soon," Bella said to her twin sister innocently.

"Where do all of you go all the time? Its night time, you should all be in your beds! How come I'm the only one that doesn't go with all of you?" Narcissa said her eyes changing from being filled with suspicion to insult.

Bella sneered, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself Cissy, it's not very attractive."

Narcissa recoiled at Bella's tone and facial expression, "Oh," she said because she couldn't think of anything else to say.

Bella flipped her straight black hair over her shoulder and slipped past her pale sister down into the Slytherin common room. Lucius was waiting for her along with several of the other older Slythierin's.

Bella joined them silently, and the group snuck out the entrance to their common room together moving towards the Entrance Hall.

O

They were gathered around the Dark Lord submissively as he examined them, "Where is Rudolphus Lestrange?" he hissed, anger beginning to tinge his voice.

Bella's head snapped up as she felt his eyes on her. Her dark brown eyes met his reddish ones, "My Lord," she said bowing her head again, "I could go to his apartment in case he neglected to leave in time."

"This will be acceptable. Hurry," the Dark Lord finally said after staring at Bellatrix for a moment.

Bella stood up and left the group quickly her black cloak billowing behind her. She was couldn't imagine a reason why Rudolphus would ignore the call of the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord meant everything to her, why wouldn't Rudolphus feel the same?

Bella walked right into Rodolphus's apartment without even bothering to knock, she never had before. Bella heard moaning coming from Rodolphus's bedroom, and worried that her fiancé might be sick she hurried to the door and threw it open.

The scene that greeted her eyes was so shocking that Bella was frozen, rooted to where she was standing in the door way.

On the bed, where just last night Rodolphus had pledged eternal love for her, was now a young redheaded woman with Rodolphus between her legs.

"Rodolphus?" Bella asked confusion evident in her voice. Maybe it wasn't him, maybe someone had just walked into his apartment like she had, she couldn't be sure.

Movement in the room stopped completely. The redheads eyes landed on Bella and she sneered, "Is this your school girl?" after a pause, which must have meant "yes this is my schoolgirl" the woman said, "She's pretty."

"Who are you?" Bella asked, her voice dripping with the venom she would've loved to pour into that woman's veins.

"Doll face's girlfriend of course," the woman said easily as Rodolphus got off her and began to pull on his pants.

"Are you going to say anything at all?" Bella asked as she eyed him with disgust.

"What do you want me to say? You're not going to believe me anyway," Rodolphus said his voice quiet, eyes cold.

"You could at least try," Bella said anger beginning to mount along with pressure behind her eyes.

"Is that what you want me to do?" He asked looking at her with what seemed like scorn.

"So that's it then? I'm your "school girl" and you just lie to me so I feel better about myself or some _shit_ like that?" Bella asked her anger, which up till now had been carefully contained in her skin, beginning to lash outward like solar flares off the sun.

"We're betrothed Bell'. We were thrown together, we didn't choose this," Rodolphus said calmly, the scorn still evident in his dark eyes.

"We don't have to be dating just because we're betrothed you imbecile! I've been wasting my time with you, I could have been sleeping around, doing whatever the fuck I wanted but you asked me to be your girlfriend! We did choose this. We chose this path. You chose this path," Bella said anger still flaring in and out of her voice.

"School girl, sweetie, don't take this so hard," the redheaded woman said in what must have been an attempt at sympathy and understanding.

"You stay out of this, bitch," Bella snapped her anger almost spiraling out of control, "It's not like anyone gives a shit about you," she said her voice ringing with finality.

Suddenly the redhead seemed to understand that she was not in the power position as the "other woman" so often is. This sixteen year old girl had just belittled her more effectively then anyone else had ever managed to, "Excuse me?" she asked angrily.

"Rita," Rodolphus said warningly but before he could finish Bella interrupted him.

"Rita? You fucked a girl named Rita? Oh, come on, Rodolphus," something inside Bella had snapped, she felt shameless in this moment. She had been betrayed, life would be different in a way that she couldn't even imagine.

"Who are you anyway?" Rita yelled getting in her face, "Just walking in here, in your school outfit and acting like you own the world! You don't own shit, bitch! You don't own shit! You're a worthless piece of trash!"

Bella's control disappeared; instead of going for her wand she launched herself at Rita's throat. She wrapped on small hand around her throat and began punching her face and ripping chunks of hair out of her head. She was snarling in the woman's ear as the woman started tearing at Bellatrix's clothing, "I want to feel your blood on my hands when I kill you."

Rodolphus watched the girl whom he had thought was as innocent as a Slytherin girl could be, rip apart the woman he'd been sleeping with. There was respect and desire in his eyes while he watched. When it was over Bella stood victorious but she wasn't the same girl he'd always known. "Bella?" he asked.

She ignored him and brushed right by him as she walked in to his bathroom and locked the door behind her. Rodolphus listened expecting her to be crying but all her heard was the shower water beating on Bellatrix as she washed the blood from her body.

When Bellatrix entered the room again she was wrapped in a towel, she laid her clothing out on the floor and pointed her wand at them, and the wand began siphoning the blood off her school uniform. When her clothes were clean of blood she unfeelingly put them back on, ignoring Rodolphus's gaze on her body.

"Bella-" Rodolphus began his voice husky.

"You will never again address me as Bella or Bell," Bellatrix informed him, her voice void of emotion, "You will refer to me as Bellatrix and nothing else," Bella reached into her pocket and took a key on a chain out of the pocket, "And you can have this back because I won't be visiting you anytime soon. Also don't ever refer to me as "your" anything, ever again."

Rodolphus felt like he'd been slapped as he looked at the girl before him, who was she to dictate the terms of their engagement? He began to advance on her, "You are mi-"

Bellatrix clawed him across the face with her long and sharp nails. His cheek was bleeding, "The Dark Lord sent me. You were called and you never arrived."

Rodolphus sneered at her, "Yes _Bellatrix._"

Then she left calmly and coldly making her way back through Hogsmeade towards the Dark Lord, the only man she would ever trust or love again.

O

Bellatrix's eyes slid open in the dark; she searched for what must have woken her up. Determining that it must have been returning bats, Bellatrix sat up and moved to the opening of the cave she was currently staying in. She could see the faint light of morning coming over the houses. Lately she'd been dreaming about the night where her life had changed.

Mostly because in Azkaban the only memories that the Dementor's could make Bellatrix relive were the ones that had happened before that defining moment in her life. It wasn't the last time, because she had told him she would never sleep with him again, but it was the last time she ever cared.

Bellatrix rubbed her arm where the dark mark was, a predator's smile on her face. It almost never stopped burning now, the Lord's mark was always active because the Lord and his disciples were never ceasing. She was his head disciple. She would help him lead the purebloods to victory.

**AN: Okay so I would really appreciate some reviews or some kind of signal that you guys are interested in continuing to read these. So … let me know I guess, Thanks! **


	3. Her Death Eater

**A/N: So it's taken me a really long time to update this because Regulus is the one I've never understood. But this is what I've come up with. **

**Chapter Three:**** Her Death Eater**

A handsome young man with dark, well kept hair approached the bar and sat down immediately. He placed his arms on the table in what he hoped was a non-threatening position. He'd been told that there weren't terribly many positions that looked non-threatening on him, regardless of his small stature.

A pretty, young bartender came up to him and smiled, "Regulus, right?"

He smiled genuinely, "Yes. I didn't think you knew my name."

She blushed slightly, "Oh, well, I just see you here a lot, so I asked old Aberforth if he knew who you were."

"Did he tell you anything else?" Regulus asked a shadow crossing his face.

Her facial expression became mildly worried, "He told me I should be careful of you. That you weren't the type of guy I should be mixing with."

Regulus nodded, "Well, he's probably right. But, even then, I'm not as bad as most people think I am. What's your name? If you feel brave enough to tell me," he asked with a wink.

She smiled again, "My name's Danielle. Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Firewhiskey, please." he ordered, looking down at his hands.

"You're a man of habit aren't you," Danielle asked as she turned to fill a mug.

"What makes you say that?" Regulus asked.

"Well, you come in here at the same time every day, sit at the same end of the bar, order the same drink, and then silently drink your firewhiskey while, as far as I can tell, you just stare at the wall," Danielle said.

Regulus laughed, "Yeah, I guess the habit is just soothing. My line of work can be rough."

"What do you do?" Danielle asked as she placed the drink in front of him.

"I'd rather not talk about it, if that's alright," Regulus said in a world-weary tone of voice as he thought of his, suddenly unsatisfying, work as a Death Eater. It had all started back when Voldemort had needed a place to hide his latest horcrux. He wanted someone to test the defenses of the place on.

Bellatrix had excitedly volunteered herself, and when she was deemed too important to undergo the torture, she volunteered Kreacher, their parent's house elf.

His parents were more than proud to have their house elf be chosen to assist the Dark Lord. Regulus, having always been one of Kreacher's favorite family members, was chosen to accompany the Dark Lord and the elf to the cliff so as to relay the orders.

Through the pain and terror that Kreacher was ordered to experience in order to test the defenses on Voldemort's locket, Regulus was forced to lie again and again while Voldemort laughed elatedly at Kreacher's pain.

Ever since that particular experience Voldemort considered Regulus one of his most loyal Death Eaters, and Regulus had considered Voldemort a worthless bully.

"Of course!" Danielle had answered quickly, "That's just fine!"

"Thanks," Regulus answered wishing he could think of something witty to say. That was always Sirius's forte, talking to girls.

"Is it a new job?" Danielle asked leaning on the other side of the bar, looking concerned.

"Excuse me?" Regulus asked being jerked from memories of his older brother.

"Sorry if you don't want to talk about this either, but I was just wondering if it was a new job, cause you've only been coming in for about a month," Danielle asked again.

"Oh, no. It's just newly disappointing," Regulus answered, "It's terrible when something you've believed was your calling is actually just a bunch of schoolyard bullshit, don't you think?"

"Absolutely. That has to be about the worst thing you could discover," Danielle answered vehemently.

Regulus nodded dejectedly over his drink.

"Well what are you going to do about it?" Danielle asked.

"I'm sorry?" Regulus asked, not sure he'd heard right.

"Well, you're not actually thinking about just getting drunk alone in a bar every night after work for the rest of your life, are you? I mean, you're going to find another job, right? And make you're life happier," Danielle said as if this were obvious.

"It's not exactly that simple," Regulus said choosing his words carefully.

"What's not that simple? Regulus, it's just a job," Danielle said.

"You can call me Reg' if you want, my friends do," Regulus said offering her the winning Black smile that both he and his brother had inherited from their father.

She blushed a little, "Am I your friend?"

"Well, you know more about my life than any of my oldest friends or parents do simply by seeing me here, let alone knowing I don't like what I do," Regulus said, "So, I'd like you to be my friend. Plus, I like your smile."

Danielle smiled, "You're sweet. Thank you."

Regulus nodded and took a sip of his drink.

"Why isn't it that simple Reg'?" Danielle asked again, her soft brown eyes watching his face intensely.

"My parents have been expecting me to do this since I could talk, there is no exit strategy," Regulus said with dark finality.

"No exit strategy?" Danielle asked with a smile, "So make one."

"I wish everything in my world worked as simply as it does in yours," Regulus said dreamily as he gazed into her brown eyes before drinking deeply from his mug.

"What does no exit strategy mean?" Danielle asked suddenly suspicious.

Regulus drank deeply again before he answered, "I would prefer if we could talk about almost anything else, but my line of work. Please."

"Sure, what would you like to talk about?" Danielle asked.

"How about you?" Regulus answered managing his smile again. Another one of the flashes that showed he could've been a lady-killer as easily as Sirius Black, his older brother.

Danielle blushed, "I work in a bar. You think my life's uncomplicated. I had an older sister, but she was… killed in the war. What do you really want to know?"

"You had an older sister?" Regulus asked, desperately hoping he'd had nothing directly to do with her murder.

"Yes. I'd really prefer we talked about absolutely anything else," Danielle said managing a weary smile.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Can't promise I'll answer."

"What was her name?" Regulus asked.

"Alice Longbottom, that was her married name," Danielle said tiredly, her smile slipping from her face.

"Wait! She wasn't killed! Isn't she still alive?" Regulus asked immediately. He could've kicked himself after he saw her face.

"My sister, never made it. All they left was a shell of the woman she'd been. They might as well have used a God Damn Dementor!" Danielle said vehemently.

"I'm sorry. Let's talk about something else?" Regulus offered, feeling like an utter idiot.

"Sure, let me just help this gentleman," Danielle said sliding down the bar towards a man in a large overcoat who'd just sat down on a stool.

Danielle and Regulus talked all night. He coaxed her into doing a shot with him, and then another, and then another. It got to be so late she began to close the bar around them. She swept the floor, and cleaned the mugs all while talking animatedly with Regulus.

"You're not really a cat person?" She asked incredulously.

"Why is that so shocking!" Regulus asked from where he was now fixing up a pile of napkins on a table.

"I don't know, cause you're a _man_!" Danielle said giggling.

"What are you talking about? Of course I am! Why does that mean I can't be a cat person?" Regulus asked staring at her, his light blue eyes deeply confused.

Danielle kept laughing, "I don't know, I just… I'm just gonna stop talking. So you have a cat?"

Regulus mock glared at her, "What were you gonna say?"

Danielle laughed again, "Nothing! Relax, alright?"

Regulus was at the edge of the bar in two large strides; he leapt over the bar and had her cornered, "What if I don't want to?"

Danielle looked into his eyes and shivered slightly, for a moment she caught a glimpse of something ruthless in his eyes, before they returned to twinkling at her.

"I was just going to say… it's stupid," Danielle said blushing and feeling like an idiot.

"Just tell me," Regulus said leaning against the bar and looking at her haughtily.

"Well you're so blatantly… I don't know, male. I just pegged you as a dog person," Danielle said looking specifically at the floor.

Regulus looked at her for a moment, her face was bright red and she had tucked her hands behind her back. He placed his thumb and pointer finger so they framed her dainty chin and lifter her head.

Danielle looked immediately into his blue eyes, but didn't say anything. She found her eyes flicking down to his delicate lips before she could help herself. In fact, now that she could see all of him, she had to admit, he was almost intoxicatingly attractive.

Regulus watched her look him over. When she met his eyes again, he saw something he wasn't expecting. Instead of desire, there was something different in her eyes, an almost wistfulness.

"Would you kiss me please?" She suddenly asked.

Regulus laughed startled, "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry. I just don't have what it takes to kiss you and I'm desperately curious," Danielle confessed, blushing again.

Regulus chuckled, "You don't have what it takes to kiss me… but you have what it takes to ask for a kiss?"

Danielle nodded, shaking his arm a little since he was still touching her chin.

Regulus smiled, "You are a strange creature."

Danielle looked up at him indignantly but before she could say anything else Regulus had her backed against the wall behind the bar.

His arms wrapped themselves around her as he kissed her. Danielle, almost instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her fingers in his hair.

After a little while Regulus pulled away and backed away. Danielle stared at him wide eyed and gently placed her hand over her lips.

The two stared at each other for several minutes, each trying to figure the other out. Finally Danielle asked, "Why did you stop?"

"You don't want to be kissing a guy like me," Regulus told her smiling gently.

"What are you talking about! How would you know?" Danielle asked stubbornly.

Regulus smiled amused, "Just trust me. I'm not the kind of guy nice girls like you should spend time kissing."

"Who says I'm a nice girl!" Danielle asked indignantly.

"I didn't need to ask anyone," Regulus told her, his face softening. "You are the nicest girl I know; despite asking strange men to kiss you in a deserted bar."

Danielle blushed and looked down again.

Regulus crossed his arms in front of his chest, "I should go."

Danielle's head snapped up, "Why!"

"Cause you were supposed to close almost an hour ago and because I want your memory of me to be untarnished."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want to explain it. Danielle, can you accept that you had an alright kiss, from a perfect stranger, one night in the bar after close; a man you'll only see once in your life?"

"First of all, it was a perfect kiss from a perfect stranger. Reg', why won't I ever see you again? You'll come in again on Monday won't you?" Danielle asked reaching out and touching his arm.

Regulus smiled grimly, "I expect not."

"But why not?"

"I'm going to quit my job, like you suggested," Regulus explained.

"You could come in to visit me. I wouldn't mind. In fact, I'd really like it if you would come and visit me," Danielle told him stepping closer.

He wished desperately that he could tell her that he was a Death Eater, and that she would understand. The younger sister of Alice Longbottom, though, surely would not understand, especially not if she knew that his own cousin had tortured her sister into infirmity. "I told you there wasn't an exit strategy, Danielle."

Danielle opened her mouth to talk, her brow furrowed but Regulus cut her off, "Listen just do me one favor okay?"

Danielle nodded, "Alright?"

"Don't desert your sister. I know it'll be incredibly difficult, trust me, I know, but try?" Regulus asked touching her face gently.

Danielle nodded, "I'll try."

"You're a beautiful person, Danielle. I'd say it's too bad I hadn't met you earlier, but you would have despised me at a young age," Regulus said grinning and rubbing his thumb against her cheek, cupping her face.

"That can't be true!" Danielle protested, placing her hand over his.

"Keep an eye on the paper," Regulus said before he dipped his head and kissed her softly. When he pulled away he rested his forehead against hers a moment. He whispered, "Goodbye Danielle, thank you," and then swiftly left the bar.

Danielle hurried out the door after him, but by the time she'd opened the door he'd already apparated. Danielle slumped against the door jam, before she turned around and walked back inside.

O

Danielle sat in St. Mungo's outside Alice's room. She could hear her babbling as the nurse fussed inside. She shook out her newspaper and began to scan the pages like she had every day since Regulus had kissed her. It had been a week. The Sunday _Prophet_ seemed to have more bad news then usual. She thought grumpily about how much easier it would have been if Regulus had given her more to go on then, "Keep an eye on the papers."

Suddenly she saw exactly what she knew she was supposed to be looking for. _Youngest Son of Black Family Found Dead Under Dark Mark_. Underneath the headline was a picture of Regulus unmoving. Danielle gasped for air, she suddenly felt like her lungs weren't holding air properly. So that was why he was the kind of guy she shouldn't be kissing. He was a Black. He was related to _her_.

He'd been so sweet, she never would have made the connection otherwise. His name had recently been linked in the paper with that of his cousins, as a Death Eater. She had kissed a Death Eater. Even worse, she had kissed the cousin of the woman who had tortured her sister into the state she remained in.

Surprisingly she was pretty sure she wouldn't give up that night in the bar. It was something that helped her smile at night while she was closing the bar, and before she fell asleep. The fact that the mysterious stranger she had met in the bar was somewhere out there, finally living a life he found fulfilling.

Now she had to face the reality of the situation. The reason he told her she wouldn't be able to see him ever again was because he knew he was going to die. He knew he was going to be murdered, and he didn't want to endanger her. Her Death Eater, not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's.

**AN: It might be a little while before I update again cause I'm struggling with what I should do about Sirius.. I think I know now it's just a matter of articulating it. Please review and let me know what you think.**


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